Our Super Cupboard nutrition/healthy cooking classes scheduled approximately 4 times yearly. Our weekly Kids Night program meets Monday evenings at 6:30 beginning September 26, 2022. Food box distribution is the 2nd Sat of each month. Volunteers interested in helping with house reconstruction ministry should call or email for more info. (Leave a message 717-394-8412)
LUMINA is a faith-based minis
try reaching out to people who may be poor in wealth or spirit. We offer food, education opportunities, encouragement, and friendship to those experiencing the darkness of poverty, hardship, and loneliness. Since we believe "Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit," (1 Corinthians 6:19) we show love and care to the body, mind, and soul of each person asking for help regardless of race, gender, religion, or orientation. Most of our activity centers around building trusting relationships with others. Our Board of Directors is made up of all volunteers. Likewise, our workforce is nearly all volunteer. The support for our mission work comes entirely from free will gift offerings and grants from benevolent individuals who believe in what we do. We do not receive any government funding. Super Cupboard: LUMINA partners with Penn State Extension in offering free nutrition education courses to caregivers of children under 18 who rely on food stamps and food pantries to feed their families. Penn State provides the instructor and the curriculum, while LUMINA makes sure each family has the food and the tools needed to prepare the nutritious meals of the week. Most men and women enrolled in this Super Cupboard course succeed in adopting at least one new healthy habit in feeding and caring for their families. And the families make much-needed connections in the community. They support one another with recipe exchanges, mom support, and money saving ideas. Kids' Ministries: LUMINA provides weekly Monday evening programs from Sept through May, a summer week of day camp, kids' cooking classes, and scholarships, gear, and transportation to an overnight summer camp. We foster long-standing relationships with the families, who often lack the resources to give their children what they need in order to thrive. We support children and their families with masks, healthy food, school supplies, art materials, clothing, shoes, and toys. Children who attend our program regularly during the schoolyear are given a chance to earn a full scholarship to a week at Gretna Glen Camp the following summer. Respectful behavior and making peace with others are the key, as we offer educational enrichment and guidance for living in peace with one another, with our Creator and all Creation. Food Distribution Ministry: LUMINA continues to partner with Ross Street United Methodist Church in distributing boxes of free food to the hungry each month. LUMINA also schedules limited deliveries directly to the homes of needy families who do not have transportation. Each year we give out over 50,000 lbs of food. Other ministry partnerships: LUMINA is a member of Manifest, an alliance of United Methodist Churches and community organizations, which transforms condemned city houses into safe, decent homes for low income first time buyers. LUMINA helps to raise funding and recruit volunteers for the work of rebuilding. We also support McCaskey seniors in the building trades program by sponsoring awards of new tools at graduation. When Lancaster County Prison allows inmates released for community service with our Manifest housing projects, LUMINA helps to secure hearty noon meals for them through the service of its member churches.
